See the Ocean

"The hair is so thick and warm. What color is it?" Estelle asks, running her fingers through the grizzly bear's dense fur. Estelle intimately learns of the bear traits, as the drugged Grizzly waits by the Wyoming Game and Fish biologist. Just as Estelle draws on her wealth of observational discoveries with the bear, so too does she recall her family trip. Never before has the ocean below the Black Mountains along the South African coast been so richly detailed with such authority as in Estelle Condra's See The Ocean. Nellie, the main character who is blind, like Estelle, poignantly sees with her mind, as she listens to her brothers' words, silences and sounds of crashing waves, and answers to her many questions on the family beach trip. Surprised by the unexpected ending, teachers and students listen to a story of a young girl, overcoming obstacles of sightlessness. The vivid sensory descriptions are used as examples of juicy details found in effective writing. Estelle's exquisite writing is expressed in Nellie's feeling the sandy grains, keeping the score in her head, without cheating, and hearing the whispering salty breeze. I, like Nellie, see the ocean with its shoes of shells, gurgles and prattles, and misty blanket.

This book is beautifully written and illustrated. I share this story with my 3rd and 4th graders to teach the comprehension strategies of visualization, questioning and inferring. It is a powerful teaching tool. ( For a full lesson see Stephanie Harvey's Strategies That Work). They love it! Picture books aren't just for little kids anymore!

I shared this story with my physically and mentally handicapped students. They loved it. I wish there were more stories like this that they could relate to. I told the students about the author and how that she is blind from the same eye disease (RP) that I have. It helped my students to understand what it is like to be visually impaired. I hope that Estelle continues to write more books.

I love inter-action within a family and this is a wonderful way to express the childhood responses of siblings. The brothers think they are the only ones who can see, but the indepth sight of their little sister warms the heart. Hooray for Estelle Condra for helping us who are physically sighted to see in a deeper way. A very helpful book!

You can see Nellie's description as she is telling her familyabout the ocean. The details are so vivid and real. You actuallyfeel like you're at the ocean as well.